R,
The time for old squabbles is over. My heart is broken to hear of D. But taking that journey is not the answer for the girl. e answers she needs for now are at Lighthouse. I am sorry to report that the boy is in danger. I am going to him to warn him. I hope this doesn’t ruin everything we have done to keep them safe. Maybe we were wrong.
-H
Cambridge, Massachusetts, Twenty years later
“Good evening, everyone. Please take your seats.” The too-tweeded-up for his own good Dean Asgard instructed the audience with that air of authority that most just heed without question. “Thank you for being here this evening to honor all of our Kingston Award recipients. The final award of the evening goes to someone whose contribution to their field has fundamentally changed how his colleagues now conduct their work. You can thank him for all the work you are going to have to do now.” Theo cringed at the joke as he listened to the audience’s polite chuckles. He got the sense that this Dean Asgard thought of himself as a comedian.
Theo looked up from his seat in the packed, appropriately wood-paneled lecture hall of the 250-year old Academy of the New World to see Dean Henry Asgard dressed in a bespoke suit that suggested more MBA than PhD. As the crowd quieted down, Theo tried to focus on what Dean Asgard was saying because he knew what was coming. But he couldn’t shake this headache he’d had all night. Maybe headache wasn’t the right word, though. It was a pressure that wrapped around from the back of his head to his temples.
As Theo attempted to focus on what Henry was about to say, he saw someone in the corner of his vision that made him take a second glance. She was sitting at the far side of the hall, and Theo thought she was looking back at him. It was not her gaze that caught his eye but what she was wearing. From what he could see, it was a rued black dress with a white, stiy laced color that came up to her chin. Her black gloves went up past her elbows, and he could just make out small, golden buttons along the gloves’ seams. She could have stepped out of a nineteenth-century stereoscope image. It wasn’t that academics did not play around with their style, but this crowd, full of deans and university presidents, experimented with budgets not fashion.
Theo turned his focus back to the stage and tried to shake the pressure in his head as he heard Henry say, “It is my pleasure to introduce to you this evening, Professor Theo Hatchell. His work in the emerging field of musical linguistics, has transformed how we think about language’s relationship to music and given us a deeper understanding of how musical language was experienced in the ancient Near East.” Theo could sense the pride Henry had in being able to introduce him–a pride that belied the power of someone to make or break budding careers. He’d sensed a similar pride in all of the interactions he’d had with him since he’d taken the job. “Lionesses also take pride in their catches as they drag them back to their cubs,” he thought to himself.
He glanced once more at the woman in black. Was she still staring at him? As he winced at the increasing pressure in his head, he heard Henry go on. “Professor Hatchell’s breaking of the previously-untranslated language, Thalean B, has opened up a new arena for the study of ancient music, and his discovery and translation of e Book of Cycles will keep scholars busy for decades. This musical treatise outlines the improvisation of much ancient Near Eastern music that also shows how ancient musicians looked to the stars to find inspiration for their songs. It is a key for understanding pre-imperial music of the region we call Persia.”
Theo liked his work, even loved it sometimes, but he hated it being talked about in such a grotesquely promotional manner.
“In his translation,” Henry continued, “Professor Hatchell noticed the recurring phrase ‘kasbat kashach’ that he translated as a one-horned, hoofed animal central to the beliefs of ancient people in the region.” Theo watched as Dean Asgard paused a moment while cocking his head and smiling. The audience leaned forward with anticipation as Henry said, “Yes, distinguished members of the Academy, Professor Hatchell has discovered unicorns.” Theo felt mild discomfort at the comment, but Henry was kind of right. He dismissed the discomfort with the comment in order to focus on the other discomfort of this lingering pressure in his head and make it to the stage.
“That is enough of me bragging. Let me get Theo up here finally. Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause to the newest member of the Academy of the New World and, I should note, a new assistant professor at my own Bronx University. I am happy to have successfully kept all of you from hiring him.”
The crowd gave a loud applause as Theo made his way up to the stage via the set of old, creaking steps. He took each step slowly making sure not to trip as he had a tendency to do. As he looked out, the crowd seemed much larger than it had from the vantage point of his seat. He thought how strange it felt to be honored. He hadn’t exactly sought out professional fame, but he didn’t mind a room full of people clapping for him either. He had done solid, scholarly work—what he was supposed to do. And now this was the fringe benefit of that work. Yet the feeling of something being o still tugged at his brain. That tug had been there since childhood, but now it had found a specific outlet—his research. What was he actually trying to uncover with all this work he was doing on e Book of Cycles? He brushed aside the doubt that always lingered just within enough range of his ego to make him question his entire career. But all he needed to do was make it past the last step up to the platform of the stage. He walked toward Henry who reached his hand out to shake Theo’s. Henry motioned for Theo to turn around and then reached around to lay the ribboned medallion around his neck.
As Theo felt Henry fastening the ribbon at the back of his neck, he scanned the crowd. She was still there, and her stare seemed even more intense. She wasn’t clapping, and for the first time since seeing her, he realized just how out of place she was. Theo was relieved that the only expectation was that he would thank the audience this evening. He turned to the podium and spoke with the deference he knew the crowd expected, “Thank you Dean Asgard and members of the Academy of the New World. This is an incredible honor. I only hope my future work will live up to your expectations.”
The crowd applauded again and began to make their way out of the lecture hall and into the lobby for the reception. Receptions were Theo’s least favorite part of academic life. The preening and endless talk of projects in the works irritated him. Why, he was still trying to figure out. He knew he needed to talk about his work and feign interest in others’, but it was overwhelmingly puerile most of the time.
“Theo, let me introduce you to Bronx University president, Margette DuPont.” Theo looked at the woman in front of him and thought she could be ripped from the cover of a romance novel. Her dress was impossibly red as was her lipstick, and her hair was pulled up in a sort of bun but with streams of it coming out all over the place. Whatever she was wearing, Theo knew this woman was commanding. He was terrified of her.
Theo felt Henry’s hand on his lower back and could sense just the slightest push as Henry introduced Margette. He couldn’t help thinking of the many offerings of animal sacrifices he had studied in his career.
“A pleasure to meet you, President DuPont,” Theo said instinctively.
“Oh, please. Call me Marge. I am pleased to finally meet this Theo Hatchell that Henry has told me so much about. Some are calling you the Unicorn Professor.” She said it with a smile and a playful nod.
“About that . . .” Henry started in, but Marge interrupted him. “How’s the move going? You are coming from New Orleans, right?”
“Yes, I have been down there for the past few weeks sorting out some things. Next week I make the big move up to The Bronx.”
“Well, when you finally get settled in, do make an appointment with me. I would like to talk about how we can pitch your work to some donors who have expressed interest in this Book of Cycles. I think there is some real industry application here that we could explore with them. Oh, and Henry, have you set up Theo’s research assistant yet?”
“Indeed, I have. His name’s Chemsky. Rodger Chemsky.”
“Excellent. See that Mr Chemsky is there to help Theo move his things in.” As he heard Marge give her orders, he noticed a slight discomfort in Henry’s expression.
“Goodness, there are so many people to say my hellos to. I must get on it.” The President said her farewell and disappeared into a mass of people who seemed lined up to speak with her.
Theo turned toward Henry as he heard him say, “There are so many people for you to meet, Theo. Where shall we start?”
“Actually, I need just a moment to get some fresh air. I will be right back in.” As Theo said it, he thought how ridiculous the phrase “get some fresh air” was. It was a euphemism for any number of things one might want to do outside, and the thing Theo wanted to do outside was get rid of this persistent headache. He’d had this pressure in his head come and go for most of his life and simply chalked it up to stress, anxiety, and too many hours spent translating useless, ancient languages in libraries.
Theo took a deep breath in as he stood on the steps outside the main entrance of the Academy. He could just feel the first hints of fall on this late summer evening. He liked fall. It meant the beginning of something for him and other academics scurrying to get things lined up for the start of the academic year. And despite his irritation tonight with his fellow scholars and their administrative minders just steps away in the lobby, he liked the path he had chosen. It beat any number of terrible things one could devote their life to. “At least I don’t sell people things they neither need nor want and will most likely kill them,” he often thought. He rubbed his temples and took a few deep breaths preparing for whatever Henry had planned for him the rest of the evening. He almost choked on his own breath when he heard a voice from behind him in the lowest of tones, say “Theo, I would like to speak with you about something.”
He turned and saw her. It was the woman in the black dress. He could see the dress fully now. It went down beyond her ankles, and could not have been a more anachronistic look at an event with so many straight lines and minimalist fashion. He could now make out the details of the buttons on her gloves. It looked as if they were tiny crossing axes. There was just something about this woman suggesting she had stepped out of another time. What she could want from him was anyone’s guess.
Theo, still startled, managed to say, “I saw you early in the audience. What university are you coming from?”
Theo immediately got the impression she was not there for small talk. Her comments were brief and quick. “We have been following your work for some time now and think we have an opportunity you would be interested in. You should contact us when you’re in New York.”
She handed him a small card. It was a brilliant shade of scarlet with raised golden text that listed only an address.
864 Gold Street, New York, NY
He flipped the card over and saw nothing on the backside and then looked up from the card. “I didn’t catch your name.” It was too late. The woman had made her way into the darkness. As Theo watched her slip out of his sight just beyond the streetlights, he thought about the several companies and firms who had contacted him since the publication of his translation of e Book of Cycles. He knew people were always on the lookout for research they could monetize, but it seemed quite strange to him that any institution other than a museum would be compelled to sink money into his work on ancient texts.
Always drawn to the mysterious, though, Theo made a mental note to visit the address. As he slipped the card in his jacket pocket and turned to enter the lobby, he saw Henry at the entrance.
“Enough fresh air for you?”
“Actually yes,” Theo said with a playful smile. Henry had seemed to appreciate this playfulness in Theo at his job interview, and Theo made a mental note to use it as much as possible.
“Excellent, let me introduce you to some people who are dying to meet you.”
Theo stretched his arms out toward Henry with his palms up and said, “Like a lamb to the slaughter, eh?”
“Oh, don’t be dramatic. They just want a nibble.” Henry smiled.
Henry led Theo back into the lobby. “So this unicorn professor thing that people keep calling you. I know I made a joke earlier about it, but I don’t love what people are saying. It isn’t the best look for you this early in your career. I have some ideas of how we can reframe your image. Let’s talk about that when you get to The Bronx.”